July 22, 2022 - Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux
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HOW TO PARENT! Isabella AMA
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Alright, Izzy questions.
Izzy questions. Wait, should we do like an official intro or something?
Go. Oh, wait, what?
I was like, yo, I don't run the show.
Why are you doing this to me?
All right. Yeah.
Hi, everybody. So you wanted to do another Q&A? Yeah, I thought it'd be fun.
And this is, in fact, what we're doing.
It is Wednesday, July the 20th.
And we are, you know, because, I mean, people really do love the chats.
Yeah. They do love the chats.
And I think for a lot of people, it's kind of surprising just how...
Enjoyable chatting can be. Well, I feel like everyone undermines children a lot.
Like, not everyone, of course, but I mean, usually we'll just be somewhere and I'll start talking to someone and they'll just give me this look like, wait, you can have an opinion?
Yeah, it's like everyone's just looking at eye level, adult level for opinions, and anything that goes belie, it's like Top Gun when they fly under the radar through those canyons.
It's like the kids are just gonna sneak it in, right?
Well, it especially happened over the last year.
Like, beforehand, when I was like 9, 10, 11, even 12, Everyone would just kind of ignore all the adults.
But now that I'm 13 and I'm starting to look a bit more older and stuff, everyone is suddenly treating me like I actually have something to say.
I'm like, hold on. I don't like it.
I'm like, you shouldn't be interested in me just because I'm older.
Like, what do you mean? Yeah, I remember that as a kid.
I remember... There's an old comedian I heard about, the problem with sitting in the backseat.
So my friends all had cars, and because I never had a car to sit in the backseat, the two people would sit in the front seat.
And the guy was saying, like, in the backseat, you can't have any fun, but you can see the profiles of people having fun in the front seat as they turn and talk to each other.
And you can do your fog drawings.
On the window, yeah. And you can try and contact other people in the backseats of cars.
Oh, that's cool. And this sort of being in the backseat, I remember that as a kid too.
I remember like maybe five conversations I had before I was like 12 or 13 where somebody actually listened.
Yeah. Like an adult who wasn't.
It's not common. Yeah, it's a real shame.
It's a real shame. So yeah, anyway, we'll get it going here.
My question is, this is from a listener.
How handsome is your father?
No. How interested are you in your dad's books and podcasts?
How much of them have you read or listened to?
How is it decided in your family what content is age appropriate in general?
Well, okay, I'll go.
So in terms of the books and podcasts, I heard, so with his latest book, The Future, he would read it to us and I would listen.
Now, I didn't do it for all of the scenes and stuff.
Yeah, yeah. Because it's not specifically a kid's book or anything like that.
There's no swearing in it or anything and no particular violence, but yeah.
Yeah. Still not a kid, though.
You really had to listen, or I really appreciated you listening to the scenes with the two girls.
Yes. Because a little closer to you than to me?
No, just a little bit. Yeah, just a little bit.
Yeah. And in terms of shows, I listened...
You don't listen to podcasts. I don't listen to any of the podcasts.
I get my own personal podcast.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which, you know, but at least you can turn off the other podcasts.
At least this one's kid-friendly.
Yeah, yeah. Well, that's a fair problem.
So, yeah, you don't listen to...
Now, you've listened to one or two, like in the homeschool-y thing.
You've listened to George Washington, Truth About Slavery.
We've got another couple of ones. So, no.
I mean, the idea that...
I mean, for me, it would be kind of sad if you said, no, no, no, Dad.
I don't really want to have a conversation.
Just give me a podcast.
That would be kind of strange, right?
Yeah. So, all right.
How it's decided in your family.
What content is age-appropriate in general?
Yeah, I mean, there's stuff that's good stories, but has kissing or violence or something like this.
We usually just skip over the scenes that aren't appropriate.
Like, if it's too violent or whatever, but...
If it's a movie I've seen before, and it's a good story, but there's some violence in it, we'll just skip over it, or if there's kissing and all that kind of stuff.
But for the most part, we stay on kid-friendly stuff.
Yeah, I mean, usually, I'm not...
Like, all the modern movies that are made for kids are usually just full of propaganda.
The stories are terrible.
It's all, like, Woke stuff.
So we usually don't watch any younger, I guess not younger kid, but I guess my age movies.
We'll do it if we're going to review them.
Yeah, that's it.
But we don't really do it necessarily for fun.
So usually we'll listen, or I guess we'll watch movies, I guess more so made for the older audience and just skip over inappropriate scenes usually.
So I can at least get a decent story, but keeping it somewhat kid-friendly.
Yeah. Hi, Stefan.
It's Bella. Oh, well, the other thing, too, which I'd like to talk about a little bit on this show, is that we would rather create our own stories than consume other people's stories.
Yeah. So you're running a dungeon at the moment, and for four or five years or so, we've been doing this role-playing of these epic adventures, this conversational style.
And also, if there's a physical challenge, we'll actually have to throw stuff.
Physical challenges. Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, like if someone's going to hit you with an arrow, I have to throw a ping pong ball at you or something.
Like, it's actually quite athletic.
It's the only athletic dungeon.
It's all called tabletop.
You're just sitting around watching your butt get bigger. Yeah, Dungeons and Dragons is always just dice rolling.
Yeah, yeah. You're increasing your butt Kardashian style.
All right. Hi, Steph and Isabella.
I want to tell you that I decided to become a father because of your first podcast together.
Awesome. About three or so years ago.
It was wonderful hearing the two of you converse and play.
So thank you so much. Okay. I want to tell you something a bit about our fine listeners.
Okay. So people can say thank you.
It's nice. It's okay.
It's polite. Totally meaningless.
It means nothing to me. Okay.
Okay. So if he became a father because of our conversations...
But he did not name his child Steffabella or Isofan.
Then I don't know what. The thank you means nothing to me.
So I'm going to need, you know, you don't have to show us the whole birth certificate.
Just send it back.
Just zoom in on where it says Steffabella.
The middle name can be Isofan.
Oh, wait. So Basil.
Can we just do a tiny detour?
Because we're going to talk about ducks this whole show.
Tiny detour. Tiny detour.
What's the name of my duck? The duck that is bred as me.
Very talkative, a little bald, a lot bald.
This will come up later because there's a lot of questions like, oh, what do you want to do when you get older?
A few months ago, actually eight or nine months ago, we got some ducks.
Yep. And we ended up loving the ducks.
Unfortunately, the ducks we got, there were too many and they were too big.
So we decided to return them back to the breeder that we got them from so they didn't have room to run around and have fun and all that stuff.
We also had too many males and too few females.
So then we picked up a few other breeds.
We tried out other ducks, other breeds.
We had some unfortunate health issues and aggression issues.
But we think we finally found the last two.
We got two ducks. They're very calm.
They're very nice. They won't get too big.
Well, no, they're not very calm.
They're very calm. We just posted a video about that.
Okay, they're usually very calm, except when you give them watermelon and spinach.
Yeah, then they're savage.
All the way back to dinosaur beast-like.
True. So, yes, my plan, I love ducks, so my plan when I get older is to make a duck farm and breed new ducks, and the duck breed I'm breeding specifically for him is going to be called Basil Quack.
Now, do you know why you sped up at the end there?
Why? Because you realized you were doing what I was doing.
What I generally do, which is way too much backstory.
Yeah. What is your thing?
Get to the point. Dad.
Please, Dad. No more tangents, please.
No more side streets. I don't mind tangents as long as they're funny and not smugs.
So nice to come along. See you coming along in your father's path.
All right. Sorry, he did actually have a question.
Did he? Yeah, yeah. My question is, at what age and in what ways can a parent begin to introduce the idea of the child having their own family someday?
I remember when I saw about eight years old, it was a strained and embarrassing conversation with my parents.
Oh, probably when they talked about reproduction or whatever, right?
Oh, yeah. But being a father now, I wish to be prepared to make it hopefully just part of a casual conversation, part of every day.
Thanks again. It's an honor to ask you a question.
I think the honor to ask you a question.
It can't be a both. Specifically me.
All right, rock, paper, scissors. Who's he honoring?
Give me rock, paper, scissors.
Go! Oh, he's honoring me!
Okay, I'm going to need definitely that certificate.
Okay, so I'll say in terms of like starting a family, you can say, oh, you know, it'd be good if you start your own family one day.
I don't see why there'd be a big issue, but if you're putting your kids in school, they're probably going to learn about it younger.
Way too young. Maybe don't put them in school or definitely not public school.
Maybe try for private school if you can.
So, I mean, if you're homeschooling them, I'd wait till maybe 10 or 11 for the actual big talk.
But you can say, you know, yeah, you should start a family one day.
I don't really see why there would be a big issue with that.
Well, and I think, like a lot of the callers, I just had a call last night with a guy, and a lot of the callers, the reason they don't want a family is they had a bad time in their own family life.
Yeah. Right? So if your family life is enjoyable, I mean, it's not like you're going to sit there and say, oh my God, having kids is such a drag.
It's no fun, right?
I mean, you're a central joy in my life, and so surely you'd want that joy in your own life.
So if you just have a fun and happy family life, kids will be drawn to having families the way that I'm drawn to.
Wisdom. Snickers.
Coffee. Okay.
Tangents. That escalated.
All right. What was that last one?
That escalated. That escalated.
All right. Okay.
So, hi, Izzy and Steph.
Hope your day is good. What do you think of other kids your age?
It's obvious you're very bright.
Hang on. Rock, paper, scissors.
Who's he referring to?
Rock, paper, scissors.
Go. I snipped your scissors.
Rock, paper, scissors. Go.
Rock, paper, scissors, go!
Rock, paper, scissors, go!
Rock, paper, scissors, go! Rock, paper, scissors, go!
Rock, paper, scissors, go!
Okay, I finally won!
We just did every single one.
We just kept matching up.
Well, no. So, what do you think of other kids your age?
So, logically, kids wouldn't be my age.
Really? So, it's obvious you're very bright, must be referring to you, but I just enjoy the rock, paper, scissors.
Okay. Okay. And I'm curious if you find it difficult to associate with your peers at all, considering how you were raised.
Thanks for letting us ask questions, guys.
No issues. Everything's perfectly fine.
Other kids are perfectly charming, perfectly delightful, and we've never had any problems.
Oh gosh, where to start?
So, I think when you were younger, very young.
It was a little easier. But yeah, there was some volatility in some of those early friendships.
And we've kind of whittled them down to friends we've had long...
I mean, you've had friends... I mean, the same set of friends now you've had for 10 and a half years.
I mean, the older ones.
And you've done some babysitting and you've played with younger kids and all that.
And I think you're really good with them and all that.
Although I know it's not necessarily your first port of call for fun.
Some younger kids can be good, but it's usually the older siblings that trigger me.
You run a gaming server, and on that gaming server, you very much enjoy playing the games with the older people, right?
Yeah, it's a very wholesome group. They're all interested in philosophy and stuff like that, so yeah, it's a lot of fun.
It's a pretty nice group, so...
Except for your rampant cursing, it's very wholesome.
There's literally, like, I think there's no swearing.
There's no swearing, of course not, of course not.
Yeah, and so if you're just doing activities, like, you know, if you play volleyball, we've played volleyball with some kids in the past.
If you're just doing activities, it's fine, right?
But if you actually sort of have to sit down one-on-one...
It's hard to find. Give me the range of conversational topics that don't involve video games and all of that.
Give me the range of topics that kids have talked about with you over the course of your life.
I'm pretty sure I've only had that with my two older friends.
Right. Which are five years older and seven years older.
So, but kids your age...
They don't have that. Really tough to have just conversations about stuff.
And I don't blame them, of course.
No, they haven't learned it.
Yeah, yeah. Not all, but definitely most.
All right. Yeah. All right.
Hi, Isabella and Steph.
Ooh. What?
See, this I prefer, where it says that.
Hi, Steph. Yeah, yeah.
Isabella and Steph. Oh, my gosh.
Look at this. Look.
Who's capitalized? Good job.
Whoever wrote that, thank you. Isabella goes first and she's capitalized.
All right. My question is, Isabella, the father myself of a two-year-old, what are some of the activities you and your dad did together when you were growing up that you still remember today?
I remember we would talk about the debates that you had on your show when I was like three or four even.
Peter Joseph. Peter Joseph.
What did he call me? Words.
Wait, words solid. Yeah, I called him word salad guy.
Oh, yeah. He called me a con man.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And the Peter Joseph fight, which is just...
We would, like, smack our hands at each other.
That's right. Like, flappy hands, kind of.
Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, we would talk about that really early.
And people are always surprised just at how much kids at a very young age can process.
If you make it enjoyable.
Yeah, yeah. Don't just, like, drone on.
Ask them questions and, like, make it interactive.
Like, make it... Yeah, yeah. Like, don't...
Don't just talk and talk and talk.
Be like, oh, and do you have any experience you can relate to with this?
Or like, what do you think? Are you enjoying the conversation?
Like, is this topic interesting?
Do stuff like that, because especially if you can get them to start really liking conversations when they're young, that's going to stick lifelong, because it's harder to get it happening when they're older.
So make sure they really enjoy the conversations they have when they're little.
We've got to talk about the smart game.
I need this recorded for posterity, because that was a blast.
So just a real quick backstory.
I started reading The Hobbit, a very sort of sanitized version, to Izzy when she was very young.
I remember I was supposed to be trying to sleep while you read it, but I'd be up because I recognized the word up on the screen.
She looked up the word up?
Yeah, the word up was the first word you learned.
And so you loved the Dragon's Morgue.
Now, I don't think you quite understood he's supposed to be a villain.
Not really. This started a particularly long love affair with dragons that you've had since...
Dragons are cool.
So we used to play this game, and we played it with some friends of yours back in the day.
Even just random people. If we go to a public pool...
No, no, no. This is a different one.
That's Smorg Says. Oh, yeah, yeah.
What would happen is we had a bunch of fake jewelry, like necklaces and plastic stuff.
That's plastic stuff you get at the dollar store, because I was very girly back then.
So I would curl up on the bed, and I would be half-lying...
On the jewelry, right?
And I have to get it out from under your stomach and stuff.
Without me waking up. Yeah.
And so you also had these, like, Bilbo Hobbit light fingers that were really wild.
Yeah. And so then I would, like, shift.
And you'd be like, you'd then stop.
You'd freeze. Maybe you'd hide a little.
Then you'd come back. And you'd try and extricate these jewels from my belly.
Yeah. And then, at some point, I would wake up.
And Chasey. No, but here's the thing.
So a sane person would drop the jewels and run.
You did not. I grabbed the jewels.
I ran and hide. Except one day.
Wait, wait, wait. So you had a corner in a spare room that you would go into and hide.
Yeah. Right? So then.
Then, I remember one day, we'd been playing this game for a while because I had it fun, and one day, I was in the hallway, I just turned around and I whacked it.
Yes. So, we won't go into any specific details, but I'm chasing you, and at some point, you had just decided, well, that's it for running, thank you very much.
I am no longer running.
And you turned around and just clocked me in the leg, and I just, I went down like a sack of potatoes.
You were just unexpected.
I was not expecting it.
So the turn and fight thing was just amazing.
That was really fun. The other thing we did, and we'll get to the Smog Says thing, but the other thing we did, the kitty games, where you'd be a kitten and there would be a mean guy who would capture you or you and your friends who would lock you up under the table and go to get ketchup and then you would try and get away and I'd chase you and all that kind of stuff.
Yeah, yeah. I remember we played that with a few of my friends back then.
Yeah, yeah, that was great. Okay, so do Smog Says.
Okay, so Smorg says we'd basically be at the edge of a pool and it would say, like Smorg says, do not walk into the pool.
No children are allowed. Yeah, no children are allowed to walk into the pool pretending to be blind and licking ice cream.
Yes, that's right. Or pretending to be a butterfly and falling off a cliff or something like that.
So you just get these outlandish things.
And we would sometimes have like 10 or 12 kids join in doing that stuff.
And we had like a bunch of older kids too one time, right?
Yeah, that's right. It was crazy. It was a lot of fun.
Gosh, what else? Well, of course, we would explore ponds and rivers and lakes.
Yeah, don't do that if you're in, like, tropical climates with gators, but do that in, like...
No, that was great. So we would...
Rivers, and we'd love to catch crayfish.
Catch crayfish? You raised the tadpoles?
Yes. Very young. And minnows and all that stuff.
So, yeah, river walks, hikes, they're all very fun.
Go out to, like, the country. If you're in the city, go to the country for a day or two.
Oh, yeah. And just have fun doing all that.
Hikes and, like...
I think you've been forgetting something.
I mean, other than the role-playing, which we'll talk about later.
That was older, though. Yeah, yeah.
I don't think there's too much else.
I know we did a lot. I know.
Oh, well, we did the board games.
A lot of board games. Epic Monopoly games.
We'd go on for like a week. A week's worth of Monopoly.
That was really great.
And you know what that gets you used to is that pendulum of luck that just goes back and forth in life, right?
Do you remember there was that older kid we used to play with who couldn't do the math?
Oh, yes.
That was a little bit more unschooling than homeschooling.
Yeah. Yeah, so there was a beginner's monopoly, a kid's monopoly, where it doesn't have hundreds.
It has like ones, twos, fours, fives, and it was pretty simple, like ten-finger math.
I could do it. Yeah, she couldn't do it, so that was a shame.
Alright, um, she's such an intelligent, sorry, that's supposed to be, he's such an intelligent and precious man.
Is that right? She's such an intelligent and precious child.
Okay, so that's for you, but this heart?
Okay. It's a black heart.
Oh, I reject the black heart.
It just comes out black in the, uh, in the accurate, I think.
Okay. Miss Izzy, question.
Your talents in the filmmaking arts.
Do you want to give people a backstory for that?
Yeah, so a while ago, I would make somewhat sort of half things of animations.
It would basically be like using an app, moving characters, taking screenshots, and then putting it all together.
And then later, I got more advanced, I would make walking animations.
You'd do the whole story. Oh yeah, I did an hour and seven minute long story about kids taking over the world.
Yeah, and you did one on the pandemic?
Yes. I didn't like that one.
Oh, I loved the end of that one myself.
I thought it was very moving. So yeah, you would write, and you would direct, and you would animate using some exterior program that would help you with it.
But yeah, usually it would come out pretty well.
And then I actually did stuff where I'd use green screens and walking animations.
Not in person, but I'd get a green background, and then the characters would walk, and I'd make animation harder stuff.
But I did that...
I've done other animations with, like, full-on frame-by-frame with voice actors about a game Among Us, it's called.
Yeah, yeah. It's really good. We do a lot of stuff.
I've made a, if you know the game Dungeons& Dragons, I've done a pretty, I'm making, I'm working on a dungeon right now.
Right, right. Hang on, I'm sorry.
And it's just the next stage is claymation.
No, I'm not doing claymation.
Do claymation. No, you do it.
I can pose. All right.
No. So, your talents in the filmmaking arts and in duck care are remarkable for your age.
Clearly, you are a natural who admirably practices harder both.
Presently, when you think about your plans for the future, how would you like to integrate these two passions into your life?
Well, duck farm, I'm probably not going to do too much of, like, animations and filmmaking.
Maybe only that stuff to, what was it called?
Spread the... not spread.
I literally cannot get the word out.
Promote the farm. There we go.
See, I have that at least once a show.
My brain is like, nope, not giving you a word.
Not happening. So then just, you know, pause thoughtfully until something hopefully comes along.
No, promote the farm.
But yeah, I'm planning on making a duck farm where you can, like, ship ducks.
And I'm really going to do the hustle to get it going.
I'm going to go to parks and be like, oh, hey, kids, do you want a duckling?
Here, go get your parents. Free samples.
Yeah, yeah. But yeah, I plan on doing a duck farm, as previously mentioned, and probably not too much more in the animation and arts and stuff.
But you also want to breed your own kinds of ducks?
Yes, I'm not just going to sell ducks.
I want to create a new breed of ducks that's specifically good for being pets.
It doesn't poop often. You can tell the gender at the beginning.
Because there are breeds you can do that.
I just have to work with those breeds to make a new one.
And you also can breed them for personality traits, right?
Definitely, yeah. More friendly, more affectionate.
They stay bonded longer and all that.
You can also breed them for color.
You take the prettiest ducks. There's whole charts.
I've made charts for all the different...
Like, if you breed this and this, you get this, and it's crazy.
The duck genetics are hard, but...
Yeah, so there's stuff you can do.
You're going to get pretty and calm and you get an ideal pet.
But the only problem, of course, is that you desperately want to live in a city.
No, I hate cities. I hate cities.
I'm going to go in the middle of nowhere.
Oh, do you remember? There was a girl you knew once.
This is when you were really into frogs.
Frogs and toads was a whole wild phase.
Oh, yeah. And when we had chickens and the chickens ate a frog you liked, there was much woe.
Oh, it was so woe. It was horrifying.
It was horrifying. And your friend was like, well, you should come into the city to see me more.
And you're like, no, I like frogs more.
Remember, she got really upset. Yeah, she got really upset.
She's like, why do you like frogs more?
And I'm like, I don't know. I enjoy feeding them.
She's like, oh, so you like their food?
And I'm like, yeah. Are you interested in veterinary science with a focus on ornithology?
What? Ornithology is taking care of birds.
Oh, okay. So are you interested in the medical aspect of surgery?
Physical rehabilitation?
Social rehabilitation? A duck life coach?
Okay, this is...
Okay, and or environmental habitat protection for ducks.
Okay. I'm not sure I'm really going to do any of that.
Operating on ducks? You can do it.
Yeah, that's a thing. I get that, but I mean, it just would seem like an odd thing to do.
I mean, it's a thing, for sure.
Like, I mean, there's a lot of people who have pet ducks and take them to vets and stuff.
A lot of people? Actually, yeah, you'd be surprised.
A lot of people? Ducks are way growing in popularity.
There's a lot of people on YouTube who are like, oh yeah, I got this duck, I gotta take him to the vet and all that stuff.
So, I have to learn about duck issues and medical issues because, like, as an example, ours right now, their feet are too dry, so you have to give them, like, Vaseline and coconut oil and stuff and sunflower seeds in their diet.
So, not Vaseline in their diet, you put that on their feet.
But I don't think I really will do that stuff.
I don't want to go to university or college and stuff like that to have to learn how to be a...
Well, if you already love the ducks, you don't need to go and spend six years in school.
No, I'm just going to... I'll learn on the fly.
And, you know, if people want to come to my clinic for ducks...
I don't think you want to learn duck surgery on the fly.
No, I'm not talking about... I think that's more like eating ducks.
That's just carving ducks. What I mean is I want to get it as I go, kind of.
Have you ever played with goo growing up?
Like slime? Like Ninja Turtle Ooze.
I don't know what that is. One time I tried eating it and had to go to the emergency room.
I have severe trauma, but I'm working through it.
Good luck. Yeah, we did.
You went through a slime phase. Yeah, I'd make some slime here and there.
How much screen time slash social media should children get, in your opinion?
No social media. No social media.
No. Do not let your kids on social media.
If your kid's on a server or something, the way I am, be interactive with it.
You've got to join, make sure it's kid-friendly and stuff.
Yeah, I'm on the server. And it's all people we know.
Yeah, we know them pretty well.
No social media at all.
No. It's way too toxic.
And there are creeps out there too, right?
Yeah. Even on things like YouTube Kids and stuff, there are still creeps on there.
It's okay. They talk about it like it's one blob, like it's just you staring at a screen.
So you and I will play video games together, and some of the board games we play with friends are screen time.
I don't really count that as screen time, if we're playing Catan with friends.
It's like online. It's like Catan board game, but online.
There's not much of a difference. Or if we're playing, oh, Brain Fart.
What's the Go?
Wait. Uno? That's the one.
Sorry, I don't speak Spanish.
So if we're playing Uno with friends or something like that, then I don't.
If you're playing Among Us with friends or Goose Goose Duck or Witch It or whatever.
So I don't consider that just screen time.
Now, just screen time is you, on your own, in a room, staring at a screen.
I don't do that. You do that with drawing.
The majority, yes. The drawing is not screen time.
I draw and I listen to music.
That's my stuff.
Really, the only time I'm on my tablet and not interacting is when I'm drawing, or either watching an YouTube video or something.
Well, here's the thing to do for me.
So if you have all these rules, like, you know, you can put timers on the screens and all that.
I don't like that. Can you think of a time, let's say I say, oh, I'm going to go to the convenience store, right?
And let's say you're on your tablet, right?
I can't think of a single time where you've said, no, no, you go, I'm going to stay on my tablet.
Or if I say, let's go do something, unless it's...
Outdoors and it's too hot. So if I say, let's go do something, or, you know, I need attention.
Now, if I say, let's go do something, almost always, unless you're really in the middle of finishing something important...
Usually I'll just say, wait a minute.
Yeah, yeah. But generally, if it's the choice between us doing something together or screen time, usually, almost always, I think...
Yeah, when I'm working on an animation or something, then you sometimes will be like, no, I need to get this done by a certain date.
So I'll say no, but yeah, often I'm saying...
Like 99% of the time.
So for parents...
I think... Just be enjoyable and you won't need to have an issue with screen time.
Screen time has...
It's a competition and you just have to win by being more interesting.
Yeah. Alright.
Is it...
Are you good?
Some of these are a bit...
Oh, what is your favorite ice cream flavor?
This is a very deep and important philosophical question.
Deep and important question. I don't like ice cream.
I like sorbet. I don't mind.
I enjoy cookies and cream ice cream.
Oh. What?
Oh. Oh. Old MacDonald had a...
Oh. Okay, I enjoy vanilla soft serve from McDonald's, but I still prefer sorbet over that.
Right, right. And your favorite flavor of sorbet?
I like raspberry because it's tart and I like lemon as long as it's not like, as long as it's lemon and sugar instead of sugar and lemon.
Now there's a big difference between those two because we got one place, it was very expensive sorbet, but I was, it was so hot and we wanted it, right?
We got it. I'm pretty sure it was a cup of sugar with a bit of lemon flavoring.
It was crunchy.
There was so much sugar in it.
Like remember we bit, it was, it was sugar crunching.
It was like those ice slushy things that you get, right?
Yeah, it's with the ice and sugar.
I like sorbet.
I like it sour. I don't eat a lot of sweet stuff.
If we eat chocolate, it's like 85% cocoa usually.
If I'm going to eat sorbet, I want sour raspberry, sour lemon.
I'm going to say raspberry and lemon.
I can also be a fan of the mix.
There's one where it's combinations like rainbow sorbet with a bunch of different flavors.
You also have this, and I think this can be driven out with holy water, but you also have this very strange macaroon fetish.
I love macaroons. That is just wrong.
I like raspberry vanilla macaroons and lavender macaroons.
How much should or shouldn't parents manage interactions with their children with their peers?
For example, if a child is shy, should parents ask if he or she can join others?
How much should happen naturally and when does it become overbearing for the parents to manage their children?
I think it's good until the kids are like...
8 or 9. Some kids mature faster, obviously.
I think I was pretty fast maturing.
But I say 8 or 9 on average is when you should start letting your kids kind of interact.
Because usually most... Well, I guess maybe when I was younger, it's changed a lot now.
But when I was 7, if you were at a park, there would be parents in with their kids.
Usually, you'd have a few parents in there with their kids.
But that just doesn't happen nowadays.
So I don't know. When we were indoor play centers, that was the big problem.
That's why I said parks. Oh yeah, so outdoor and more so.
Indoor play centers, when we would go during the day...
Every mom was on their phone.
Mom's sitting on the couch on their phone, I'm in there, and the kids are all sticking on me like boys.
You were very like, okay, we can play!
I can't say no to the children!
At one point, I just got so fed up, I snapped at them or something, right?
I was like, no, go play by yourselves, I'm playing with them.
Oh, yeah. So we also had a kid glomm out to us when we went for an overnight stay at Great Wolf Lodge.
It wasn't Great Wolf. Oh, no, it was.
Wait, was it? No, it wasn't. It was the other...
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Something.
Yeah, yeah. Whatever. And I have a very tough time saying no to kids who are lonely.
I was just like... If we hadn't had...
Like, I think... Oh, we just, it was our time away.
We just wanted, it was like a holiday, Father's Day something, and we just wanted like a time, we're like, hey, you know, let's go away for a night, and it was like a kid's water park, something like that.
It was fun. I was like eight or nine or something, but yeah, this kid just glommed onto us, and I'm like, no, go away.
Yeah, it's just us time, and you were stronger than me in that, and I learned that from you.
It was very good. What's your favorite music?
Hold on, let me think.
While you think about that, I'm going to tell people what not to do with your child.
So what not to do with your child, even though it's super, super fun, what not to do with your child is to intentionally murder the lyrics of songs they like.
Well, all the day bleeds.
And the night moves.
I guess I got kind of used to wearing only one glove.
If your kid likes the song.
I don't even like that song much.
It just annoys me that you do that.
You'll be like, you will have heard the song five times that day.
And you will be singing lyrics from a different song put to that tune.
Yep, it's delightful. It's so annoying.
It is absolutely delightful.
I will hear a song like three or four times.
I just know the lyrics. You know the lyrics.
I just hear all the lyrics. And if for some reason I like some song where the lyrics are constructed by too much music, number one, that's usually not a great song.
But number two, if you can't hear the lyrics that well, just look them up.
Yeah. Please, I'm telling you.
Stop murdering the music.
I could look them up and that would be one way to do it.
It would take three seconds.
It's so much fun watching you with a facial twitch because I get a word or two wrong.
I plug my ears.
Mentally, I just cut off hearing.
Right, right. I don't know.
My music tastes vary a lot.
I'll definitely say I hate, like, 99% of rap.
And all that, like, where it's, like, Mexican, autotune, Hispanic, like, raps kind of stuff.
I just, I usually don't like, I hate majority of my music.
Not a big fan of country? West country?
I don't mind some countries, all right.
What's that lady? The lady.
Good, okay. Narrowed it down to 50% of artists.
Let me think. Taylor Swift with her song about eggs?
No? I don't like Taylor Swift anymore.
I've listened to her.
Okay, forget it. But I know some country artists I like.
I'm okay. I don't like country too much.
I don't like a lot of 80s, aside from Queen.
Oh, you did, I think it's still going through, but it's tailing off the phase of listening to songs about games.
Well, yeah, you'd actually be surprised.
I only do it because the lyrics are interesting.
It's usually not that great music, but you know, at least the lyrics have something to say instead of, oh no, he broke my heart, now I'm sad, you know?
So there's a popular game Among Us.
It was hugely popular, and then the developers just ruined it.
But there was a song about that game that got like 80 million views on YouTube or something.
Dad, I'm sorry. Just make Among Us songs.
I'm fine. But yeah, it's actually quite a big thing.
Songs about games. I never would have guessed, but...
Do you plan on writing any books when you're older?
Yes, probably. So what genres interest you?
Like fiction? Yeah, so you'd write stories.
I don't care about like, oh, he said this, and this is this fact, and like Elizabeth Holmes, whatever.
I don't care. Usually true stuff.
It's interesting to read. I would probably die of boredom making it, though.
Are you singing or playing any music yet?
I don't really like playing music and my singing voice is pretty bad, so no.
I'm friends with a family who has three little girls and I'm searching for some inspiration regarding birthday gifts.
What are some really awesome gifts you remember getting that you were really excited about through your life so far?
And, uh... You're not a big gift-getting person.
I literally just want money. Like, okay, so you're gonna spend, like, $40 on a gift.
No, just give me the $40 so I can actually choose something I like.
Because it's... If you get me something, then I'm like, oh, man, now we gotta spend gas money and, like, go and return it.
It's... Well, here's the thing, too.
You can be a total fascist and give a gift certificate.
It's like, I don't know what you want.
I'm not going to give you money you can spend anywhere.
I'm going to tell you exactly where you have to spend the money that I'm not going to give you.
It's just annoying. I think buying gift certificates...
I literally... If it's, like, a store you love, maybe.
But also, okay, don't buy your kids' clothing.
If you have a girl that, like, really loves dresses and dress up and all that stuff, go ahead.
That's totally fine. But, like, if you have a girl that's like me, do not buy them clothing.
They will probably put you on a death wish.
So... Right. But yeah, don't buy clothing is usually my tip.
Especially stuff like socks, underwear, pajamas.
Don't do that. I usually just say, like, if your kids really want something, buy that for them.
But if your kid's just like, I don't really know, then just give them, hey, here's $20.
I don't know what age they're. Do whatever money is age appropriate.
Here's like $10, $20, whatever.
Go buy whatever you want.
So, some of the gifts that I remember giving you that you really liked, you really liked microphones, coffee, video cards, like video graphics cards.
You just bought that, I mean.
And then you'd often, you'd just end up turning them over to me.
Alcohol? No, I mean, if you have a great time together, the gifts become somewhat less relevant.
Usually, if your kid's like, no, I don't really want gifts, don't get him a gift and later a month or two later they're at a store and be like, oh my gosh, can I get this?
Can I get this? And be like, hey, here's your Christmas gift.
Just save up a gift or two or something for later if your kid really wants something at a store.
So, Scott Adams is a cartoonist and a writer.
He was on my show a couple of times.
And a really sad story.
His stepson died of a drug overdose.
I remember that happening. So, Scott Adams recently suggested that there isn't such a thing as good parenting.
And that in 90% of cases, it's genetic luck.
His thinking was attacking conservative parents for bragging over their parenting skills when reality is they just got lucky.
Any thoughts on this?
I have thought he has a point to a point, but surely discipline and boundaries are solely on the parents and the rest follows from there.
No, I don't know.
It's good parenting. If you can, I don't think, I think some kids are easier to parent.
Maybe you just got lucky. No.
Maybe I could have just been a complete jerk and we'd be having the exact same conversation.
A hundred percent. I'd just be, yeah, totally.
Yeah, yeah. No, if your kid turns out well, you totally brag about your parenting.
But also some to agree to the kids.
So I think there's a lot of, you can get certain different personality types.
Every kid's not going to be born complete blank slate.
So some kids are going to be a little easier.
Some kids are going to cause more trouble and some are going to be more like rule following.
So, I think I'd like to cause more trouble, but I follow rules more than I should.
And you've always had that, I think.
Yeah, I was scared of authority. I don't know why.
Yeah, and it's a funny thing because, and I remember this, so when you, we'll get to the school thing in a bit, but when you have sort of outside authorities, like remember when we took the ducklings to a swimming pool?
I didn't want, I really didn't want to do that.
And you were right about that.
I really didn't want to do that. And they were like, you can't bring the ducklings to a swimming pool, right?
I was so embarrassed. No, but see, and that was interesting to me because, and I think maybe it's a bit of a British thing because British are kind of rule followers.
I think your genes did this to me.
No, because certainly not scared of me as an authority figure in any way, and the same thing with your mom.
So I would say that is sort of an inbuilt thing that it doesn't, I don't think that comes out of your parenting.
Yeah, I think some of it's definitely inbuilt.
So I think, yeah, parent well.
Don't be too strict. Say your kid wants to go out, it's minus 15, and they're like, okay, I don't want to bring a coat.
Don't make them bring a coat.
If they're like, hey, mom, I'm cold, or dad, I'm cold, or whatever, right?
Yeah, that's a shame. Just be like, oh, sorry about that.
Oh, no, no, no, no, that's not good parenting.
Why? So if you suggest...
You don't be smart! Don't be smart!
I'm still talking, still talking. Don't be smart!
Still talking. So if your child...
Okay, I'm going to tell the Minecraft story.
I'm going to die. This is so important.
I'm just going to hang onto your wrist here.
I can't believe it. No, it's just kind of funny.
So I've complained about...
This is even back when we were making our Minecraft videos.
I was complaining that Minecraft was, like, bland.
Anyway, we ended up playing Minecraft Dungeons.
And what did you say? I said, hey, it's pretty.
Yeah, this is... If they'd made the real Minecraft this pretty, it would be even better.
I did. Because I think graphics in my...
I put my hand over his mouth just for the audience to know.
So many people would like that to stay there.
I'm deplatforming him in his own house.
Deoxygenating me, frankly. You can still breathe somewhat.
So, I think Minecraft looks pretty.
It's alright. It's nice.
But I like the look of Minecraft Dungeons a little bit more.
He thinks I just admitted that Minecraft is a super ugly game.
Stop flaring your nostrils. No, just that it could.
Every time I would try and improve it by getting it at you, oh no, that's terrible.
You would ruin it. You got the worst mods in there.
No, because I couldn't find a way to make every cube my face.
I could make that for you.
Steve. All right. Steve.
And here's the thing, too.
So discipline, we've talked about this briefly before, but would you say that you experience discipline?
I don't know. I mean, I guess, like...
Well, no punishments. Yeah, not...
I mean, we'll talk... Like, we've never taken anything away.
We've never, obviously, raised a voice.
No timeouts. We've never sent you to your room.
We've never said no dinner.
Like, there's never been any punishments in your life, right?
Yeah. The only time I didn't eat dinner was because I was so disgusted by some food we had picked up.
I didn't... And Mom's like, you can't have anything else if you don't eat this.
And I'm like, that's fine. I'd rather starve.
Yeah, well...
Okay, so...
What have we got here?
Um... That was my own fault.
I should have just eaten the dinner.
In Dungeons and Dragons, which class do you prefer to play?
Rogue. Knight.
Thief. I like the abilities and I enjoy sneaking.
Sneaking? Trap setting?
Yeah. And also not having to bother with keys because you can...
Just unlock stuff. Just unlock stuff.
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Which monster do you most dislike encountering?
I don't know. Maybe Democrats?
No, no. I remember.
No. I remember.
That's because you lied.
You said it would be on way lower down in the fourth.
It was on floor two. You said it'd be on like floor eight.
No, no. Listen. You know carbonation, right?
So when you pour a carbonated drink...
There were no carbonated drinks in old-fashioned D&D. Hang on.
What happens to the bubbles?
The science. The science question.
What happens? They die.
No, what happens to the bubbles?
They go down. What happens to the bubbles?
The dungeon master lies. What?
Yeah, he just... I rolled and he just came up.
No, you didn't roll. The knife dog was...
You actually...
I hate... Did you leave the room when that happened?
I can't remember. I think I ran out of the room.
I think you ran out of the room. I was so triggered.
Yeah, the... Okay. Which monster have you most enjoyed encountering?
Oh, God. Benapang? Yeah, Santa Fang's a green dragon.
I ended up befriending him because I couldn't fight him.
Well, you had a whole pivot, too.
So, in the game of Smorg, with the treasure, you turned and fought.
But originally you would fight monsters, and then you'd turn them into friends.
I would convince them to be friends.
It was actually pretty good. We did an hour-long debate against the green dragon.
You played the green dragon. What is the wildest situation your dad as dungeon master has ever put you in?
Oh god. The wildest.
Oh, where to start?
Oh, combating Satan?
Yeah. For ruling the world.
Yeah. That's right. Should we share how you won?
Okay. Oh, God.
Oh, no. The Dragon Zoo.
No, the Dragon Zoo. The Dragon Zoo.
That one wasn't weird. Okay.
That was actually just pretty...
That was just random. So, this one, we decided...
We've been doing this campaign of D&D for a long time, so I'm very high level, so we were doing very tough fights.
Yeah. So, basically, it was a pretty serious adventure.
We weren't being that silly.
And basically, Satan and all his demons were trying to take over the overworld, I guess.
And I was gathering a whole army, whatever.
Anyways, we and I ended up...
Doing a disguise spell, I used a portal to go into his dimension hell, right?
And then I ended up summoning giant...
We made a deal.
I said, you'll end the war if I give you a soul, right?
If I give you my soul, right? And the soul I was talking about was a fish.
The fish is a soul fish.
He didn't spell it. It's S-O-L-E. Yeah.
It's a kind of fish. Yeah, so he didn't spell it, and that's what I got him on, because you forgot that too, right?
No, I remembered that very well.
You thought I'd actually agreed.
I thought I was going to get your soul!
I mean, that's me roleplaying Satan, of course.
Sure. So, yes, he said he would end the war if he got your soul.
And then you summoned a soul the size of half a whale that landed on him.
Yeah. And that's how you won.
But it was a very serious adventure up until then.
We had, like, a ton of war planning.
We gathered armies.
Yeah. It was a really good advice.
You tried to negotiate some kind of peace and then...
I went into a straight-up fight against him before that.
I obviously lost, but other characters figured out that I was under a spell.
But it was a very good campaign for D&D. But that was probably one of the wildest ones.
As a dungeon master yourself, what type of world do you most enjoy constructing?
Well, a dungeon world.
I'm kidding. Well, you've just done your whole complete corner of the world.
First one, right? Before we would go to particular instances, but you've got a whole map now.
Oh, I've made a whole thing. I make way better adventures on the fly, because I have no idea.
The first five I planned for what they do, and then I'm just like, hey, where do you want to go next?
And they're like, oh, let's go explore this ruined castle.
I came up with everything on the fly.
I had no idea what was going to happen.
So, I get to tell you, so the part that gave me goosebumps, this was just a week or two ago, right?
Yeah, yeah. No, a week ago, I think.
A week ago. So, we go in to the open area, the first antechamber, the entrance room of the castle, the ruined castle.
I love ruined castles. I go and explore them in the real world, too.
And there are two... Statues, in a sense.
Armor stands, right? So it just stands to hold armor.
With armor on it, of course.
With armor on it, yeah. And I go in, and what happens?
I start exploring the room. So he's looking at the one on the left, and he notices that the one on the right, it makes a little squeak and turns its head to him.
It turns just the floating head, right?
Yeah. Or the head on the stand, and that was pretty wild.
And then, it came to life as?
You. As me. No, the one that you were studying.
Yes. Yes. So the other two members were fighting along with the wizard, which was a non-player character.
And then you were fighting that one as you.
He had everything that you had.
And I did that so that they weren't able to help him.
It was a one-on-one. It was great.
But that bit where the head turned or the helmet turned?
I don't know why. I just come up with them on the spot.
I'm not trying to brag or anything.
I just find it way easier.
Well, you've had a lot of exercise in imagination and creativity, right?
Isabella, what would you say is the single most important lesson you've learned from your father?
Don't be smug. I've learned that by example.
No, by opposite, right?
How annoying smug is? No, what would you say?
I don't know. Honestly, I think just general.
I don't think it's single. I think it's everything put together, like peaceful parenting and, like, how to be a sore loser and...
I'm kidding. I don't know.
I think it's just a lot of stuff put together, like everything he talks about on the show, I guess, but, like...
Also, this is potentially close to what is an emotional landmine for you, which is expressing affection of any kind.
Indirectly, yes, right?
No, this isn't really an affection.
I just don't know what would exactly be the single most important.
Yeah, I think trying to reason through things and not escalating.
Probably, honestly, creativity, because I would be so bored without my creativity.
I'd just be there watching YouTube videos instead of making, not YouTube videos, but making stories and drawing and all that stuff.
So, yeah. So that ties to this one.
What inspires you as an artist?
Have you considered painting or digital art?
I do digital art right now.
That's my art style now.
I don't like painting.
It's way too expensive, honestly.
I know you can buy very expensive paints if you want high quality.
Yes, you can. I'm just not...
I don't want that.
So I do digital because you can get all the features that you can get in person except digital for free.
Like you pay $11 as a one-time purchase and you get an app.
I haven't even paid the $11.
I've been using it for like three years.
Right, right. I should probably support the developers, but...
What is it that gets you going?
Like you say, oh, this is the picture that I want to do.
I have literally no idea.
I'll be like, I kind of feel like drawing a dragon.
So I draw a dragon. Sometimes if I'm listening to a music song of some sort...
I'll get inspired to draw or do something or make something so I'll start either animating or drawing and I'll listen to songs like whatever inspired me just because I find the song inspiring for a certain thing so either it's just random music I'm listening to or just random yeah I'm bored I'll draw a dragon.
Who is your superhero or favorite character in a fictional world?
Oh, okay. I'm gonna express my rage.
Have you rant. Do it. With a writer.
I will stand back. Good.
You better be scared.
So, there's this series called Wings of Fire.
Very good series. I probably got exposed to it too young.
It's quite violent, but it was a refrain.
But I started reading it when I was 9, 10, something like that.
But it's a great series.
Anyone who wants to read the series, probably not an adult, but if you're a kid and you want to read the series, end it at book 10.
Don't even read the epilogue for book 10.
At the end of book 10, you can look up what happens or ask me or something, but do not read the epilogue of book 10 or book 11 to 15.
Just end it. End it, end it, end it.
Don't read it. It gets woke.
And also, they add in humans.
This is a book where no humans are main characters.
No, not even close. No, the humans are just there.
They don't do anything. So don't read Basketball 10.
It gets really woke. I was so sad when they first started doing that.
I literally cried.
You were very emotional. These were very important characters in your life.
And we played in our own dragon games and you've got dragons in D&D and role-playing.
You got quite emotional about that and I completely understand that.
But, um, I'd say my favorite is probably, uh, it's called a Sandwing, which is a type of dragon named Kibli.
I know, what a weird name.
But, um, or a Nightwing, which is another type of dragon named, uh, uh, I don't know, maybe that one or a different one.
I don't actually know. I don't know about the other one.
Uh, but my favorite book out of the series is one of the, it's a prequel to the thing.
It's called... I think Darkstalker Legends.
That's my favorite of the whole series.
And Book 10. Book 10 and that one.
Everything else sucks.
No, not everything else. Everything...
The last five books suck and the beginning are also pretty good.
But yeah, probably Book 10 and a side book.
Are you sad that your childhood is basically over?
Yes. I remember I could not sleep the night when I turned 13.
I wanted to stay a child.
The adults seemed to be unhappy most of the time.
Well, I guess that would do it, right? Um...
Somewhat, like, I know when I was younger, every kid when they're younger has a great connection to fantasy worlds and stuff like that, so I guess I kind of somewhat miss having that, because I think that would just be really unrealistic, and I'm like, ah, but, um, somewhat, but also, I, like, I feel like I just want to skip over the teenager years, um, Like, I gotta say 0 to like 11 was good, and now I want to go just straight to 18.
Like, I don't... I think the next four years I'm just done.
Because I feel pretty mature for my age.
I want to go get jobs.
I want to start a farm the way I previously want to.
I want to invest in crypto, which I've already done, but it went bad.
It's not, they never get a bad TV sale, right?
Yeah, but there's a lot of stuff I just feel like the government and like laws and stuff is just not allowing me to do because I'm too young.
So I want to skip over the teenager.
I want to become an adult at 18.
Well, I think if you had the choice right now, you'd have a job.
I would have had a job like three years ago.
I mean, I got a job when I was 10, so I think you would really want to, in a sense, accelerate this part, right?
Yeah, but I can't because of the laws.
I think the earliest job I can get is jobs I really just don't want at the age of 14.
For my first job, I honestly just want to work at A Starbucks or something.
I want to be a barista because I enjoy making drinks and stuff.
I don't want to start off working at like a...
I know I say this because I want to start a farm, but I want my own farm.
I don't want someone else's farm that I can't make changes on.
Yeah, I want to start either as a barista or like a waitress or something.
Something to do with restaurants. And I can't do that until I'm like 15.
So I'm going to wait.
What is your favorite food?
Box macaroni.
Oh, the white stuff, right?
Yeah, the white craft macaroni. Not the orange nonsense, the white one.
It's good. It's not a very common brand, but it's like 99 cents, and we only get it rarely because it's not good for you.
Somebody says, I gave up on piano lessons as a kid, but as an adult, I wish my parents had insisted, I keep trying for longer.
So this is, would force, he's got a kid, would forcing lessons for a few months on his daughter be advisable?
He puts, quote, forcing on.
I mean, heavily encouraging or rewarding.
No, don't, don't, no. No, no.
I hate lessons. I hate lessons so much.
So, if she's playing piano and is enjoying it by herself, let her do it.
You know, if she wants to, if she's enjoying, like, okay, I could get better, then let her come to you.
Or she'll look up stuff, like how to play, be a better piano player.
Or she'll go back to the books that you bought her, right?
But let her play.
If she's enjoying it, then...
Great. Just as long as she's learning something and doing something.
Now, if she gets, like, don't say, like, oh, you should get lessons, or oh, you should get better, right?
Maybe suggest it a few times, but if she's still like, no, I'm enjoying what I'm doing, then let her do that, and when she wants to get better at it, or if she doesn't, then it's not a great passion, but if she does really want to start getting better at it, then totally let her do that.
If she's like, hey, she probably will never say, get me lessons, but if she's like, oh, I would like to get some books or something, or learn some more songs, and That's totally fine.
You should support that. Not force, but don't heavily suggest or put her in lessons even if she doesn't want to go.
Alright, let's close off with this one.
This is a very challenging philosophical question.
If your dad was a dog, what breed would he be and why?
Husky. Why?
European dogs, I'm like 95% sure.
Blue eyes, usually very loud.
They make a lot of noise and talk a lot.
Very silly, playful, somewhat affectionate.
Ferocious, strong, blue-eyed, furry.
Sorry, that was me, not Izzy.
Okay. I'm sure they can't tell the voice.
Yeah, Husky. I know Huskies usually aren't that smart, so we can just ignore that part of it, but other than that, he's a Husky.
Do I agree with that?
Yeah. No! Like, how did the Husky sound?
Oh yeah, they do that scream, right?
They make that screaming noise, which reminds me of him immensely, so yes.
Very strange. Now, we have some more questions, but we'll leave it at an hour for now, and we'll do more the next time.
So the outro that I always forget to do goes something like this.